Spain Viaje - July 2014

We exited through the gospel doorway to the Passion façade. The door contains text from the New Testament depicting the Passion of Christ.

The Passion facade of the church is more plain and angular than the Nativity Facade and more somber in theme.

This is the magic square. Any direction you add the numbers in the tiles, vertically, horizontally, diagonally, it adds up to 33, the age of Jesus when he died.

So much construction and much more to come. I'd like to come back and see what changes have taken place.

Next up is another famous work of Gaudí, Parc Guell. Located on the hillside overlooking Barcelona and the Mediterranean sea beyond. Originally intended as a residential community with 60 single family homes, but never became successful so it's now a park. The entrance has two gingerbread looking houses.

This is the other. The park is very colorful, playful and holds the same undulating natural lines as in many of Gaudi's works. You can't see it, but if you look closely, the white dots on that reddish dome on top of that house are upside down ceramic cups. Yup. He was very quirky.

We were selfie happy!;-)

Can't get enough selfies;-) Here on the steps leading up to the Marketplace.

The famous tiled mosaic, dragon/lizard.

Lindsey with the lizard.

The Doric columns in the marketplace below are hollow and serve as drain pipes for a reservoir to provide water for the fountains on the park grounds. Above the columns is a terrace with undulating tiled mosaic benches which were ergonomically designed.

The Marketplace with Doric columns holding up the terrace above.

Mosaic tiles and art on the ceiling of the marketplace.

Linds and Avi on the terrace, sitting on the ergonomically designed mosaic tiled benches.

Then off we went to Passeig de Gràcia to see another Gaudí work, Casa Mila.
Passeig is Catalan for promenade. The whole building was covered in construction tarp and all I could get was the door. Again curvilinear lines and iron work typical of Gaudí.

Another home he was commissioned to design was the famous Casa Batllo. Just a few blocks down the street from Casa Mila,

A long day in Barcelona. Cool! Free wifi on the train...what a concept.

Back to refresh at our funky but fab hotel.

We took the train back from our hotel to Plaza Espana(Catalan: Plaça d'Espanya).....Ah, the Magic Fountain of Montjüic(Font màgica de Montjuïc in Catalan). The backdrop is the Palau Nacional(English: National Palace). Built for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition.

Around 10:30 at night, enjoying the evening with a crowd of visitors and locals.

The waters dance and change colors to music. Very impressive for something built in 1929....Bellagio fountains in Vegas is great, but here you are in Barcelona and have a backdrop of the National Palace so it's special and priceless!!!!

The Nacional Palau on the hill. Impressive with the fountains. The Palau houses the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. We will have to visit the museum next time.

We went up escalators on the right hand side to the next level and see more fountains/water features.

A toast after a full day in Barcelona from Port Olimpic to Gaudí to Montjuic. Dinner at Bodega Monumental restaurant. Excellent food and vino blanco...salud!

Muy bueno tapas!

A testament to the culinary goodness!

Lava chocolate cake and ice cream!

Content diners...

¿Dónde está el Vino Sol?

The next morning we decided to take one of those Hop on Hop off bus tours around the city. Starting at Plaza Espana, one of the largest squares in Barcelona. This used to be a sight for public hangings(nice:-(). The red circular building in the background was built in 1900 and used to be a bullring. Now it houses a shopping mall.